Imprints in Black
by Ariedta Black
Summary: Bella Swan's cousin, Ariedta Swan, is Bella's exact twin, and yet exact opposite. She's beautiful, and charming; but shy and distant. When Ariedta comes to Forks from her homeland in England she is suddenly thrown into a world she is certain is a dream.


A/N: hey this is my first fic

A/N: hey this is my first fic! I hope you like it! Suggestions are totally welcome! Flames are too as long as it's constructive… if it's just a bash to say I suck, then you can go away, if you say I suck and say what I can do to change it, that would be excellent.

—.o.—

_To: _

_From: _

_Bells! Stop freaking out! It's going to be alright, I swear. I know you are nervous, but that's all apart of being a new bride! I should know… mum's been married twice in the last 7 years. I'll give you a ring when my flight lands in New York, before I run to my connection… I love you and I'll chat with you soon. Love you lots!! AHQJS_

I sighed and put the laptop aside. The lights of paris filtered through my window, making silver and gold patterns on the dark wall of my hotel suite.

"I don't like the sound of that," my roommate said from the mirror in the hall. Her accent made me do a double take… I never could get used to the sound of American people… The language was the same, and yet more course, it made my hairs stand on end.

"My cousin is getting married, and she's absolutely terrified." I murmured, leaning against the wall next to her. She paused from applying her mascara to give me her wide-eyed "o my god" look.

"All you Swan's… virgins." She laughed. Pulling her purse over her shoulder she started to slink towards the door. Looking over her shoulder she asked, "Are you sure you don't want to join us? There should be a lot of really cute boys… and hell, you might actually get laid."

I shook my head in disgust. "No… you go. This Swan girl is going to sit out… again… I'd like to keep my virginity intact until I find the right guy… unlike you who does the dirty with any male that crosses her path."

She nodded with a smile across her pursed lips, "Well played. I'll catch ya at the airport in the morning I suppose."

Tossing my dark brown over my shoulder I made my way back to the window and let the breeze pass through it. My gaze passed over the amazing view before me, with a sad feeling I glanced at the Eiffel Tower… almost feeling like it would be a very long time before I made it back here again.

—.o.—

Bella's POV

Bella's eyes traced Edward's jaw line all the way down to his perfect chest. Appearing across his flawless skin the sunlight made glittering diamonds that she couldn't touch. But, oh how she wanted to. Her heart quickened as her thoughts quickly turned to the wedding in less than 3 months. She knew she was ready to give her life to the love before her… and yet she was still afraid of what was to come. How could she leave Charlie alone? And Renée… Renée needed her.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward whispered into Bella's light brown strands.

"Mmm…. Nothing," she replied, quietly.

Edward let out an exasperated sigh and sat up, forcing Bella off of his person. "You know I hate it when you do that… keep me out of your head. I like to know what you're thinking, the good and the bad."

Bella took Edward's hands into hers, "You know… the same old stuff… leaving Charlie and Renée behind… It's going to be really difficult to let them go." She paused and as an after thought she added, "And Ariedta… I know she lives all the way in London, but still… It's really sad to let her go. She's been my best friend, through everything she's been the most understanding…. About boys and everything. I don't know what I'd do without her… and I have no idea what she'll do without me. Before you she was all I had for real advice… and, because she doesn't believe in true love, I'm all she really has."

Edward's brow was completely scrunched up in sad confusion. "I don't understand…"

"It's ok… it's not my story to tell… maybe she'll tell you someday in the future."

"I hear that she is quite the beauty." Edward said.

Bella lowered her eyes, noticing how the sound of his voice changed. "Don't be all nonchalant about it… I know you know… Alice told you, no doubt."

"I can't believe you would tell her and not me." Edward said, false astonishment in his voice.

Bella snorted. "Alice, Alice, Alice." she murmured. "You might even mistake my cousin as a vampire… she is extraordinarily beautiful… unearthly for a human, really."

Edward detected a note of jealousy in her voice. "Don't worry, love." he whispered in her ear. He heard her heartbeat quicken again and he pulled her closer to his body, "You're the only beauty in my eyes."

—.o.—

Ariedta's POV

I stepped off the plane, completely decked out in a rain jacket with a matching rain hat and boots. Searching through the drizzle I spotted a silver porsche among the pick-up trucks and old cars. Leaning against it was the best looking boy I had ever seen… Honey brown hair with matching eyes, pale, and dressed in a European style. Behind him was Bella… How beautiful she looked. Those brown eyes glittered with delight when they met my blue ones. "ARIEDTA!!" she screeched running towards me. Dropping my bags I ran towards her at full speed, knowing Bella, she was bound to fall and someone had to be there to catch her. And sure enough just as I was getting close to Bella, her shoes lost friction on the slick pavement, I was there just in time to catch her arm before her head hit the ground.

"Same old Bella." I laughed pulling her up into a long embrace. "I've missed you so much!!"

"Same here!" Bella giggled tearfully. She pushed me away giving me a once over. "God… you are so beautiful! I haven't seen you in… what…."

" 5 years, love." I cut in. I turned her around and put my head on her shoulder. "Now… who is that lovely young man over there?"

Bella's posture suddenly softened beneath my hands. I smiled to myself as she pulled me towards who must have been her fiancé. "This is Edward Cullen, the love of my life."

I held my hand out to him. "Ariedta," I said, introducing myself. "It's a pleasure." To my surprise he didn't check me out as most boys his age have in the past… His handshake was firm, and very cold.

"The pleasure is mine." He said in an angelic voice, his accent was clearly European… and yet it had a slight American undertone… almost like what I'd imagine a young person from the days of Early America. I pushed that out of my mind, thinking it fairly silly. "Bella has told me much about you… and my sister Alice as well. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to finally meet you."

I bowed my head in embarrassment. I knew that no matter where I went I would be noticed… it's been that way since I was ten. "Great… anyone else I need to meet?"

Bella laughed, "No worries… only everyone in town… but they'll leave you alone once you start hanging out with my group of people"

That didn't sound good… "my group of people." were they ? I knew better than to think such things. As Edward, Bella, and I went to the luggage collection I thought about that "group of people" what must they be like if others stayed away…

—.o.—

We erupted into giggles and rolled on the floor of Bella's bedroom. "And then what happened?" I sputtered, the lack of oxygen began to give me a headache… I hadn't laughed so much in my entire life.

"Well…" Bella began, "I made him drive me back home where Charlie treated him like royalty and said 'well done!' or something along those lines."

My mouth dropped in shock, "No! I can't imagine Uncle Charlie doing such a thing!!"

"Oh it gets better," Bella laughed. "Edward showed up, perfectly on time, and threatened to break Jacob's jaw if he ever brought me back in less than perfect condition."

I sighed… There were two things that bothered me with her story. First was… that there was something she was hiding from me… Something in her voice and in her face made me know that she was editing her story… I knew better than to press it… she'd tell me later anyway. The second was that I was completely and utterly jealous of her. She was beautiful… in an average sort of way, but beautiful all the same. She had an amazing boy who was god-like in every aspect of the word: kind, thoughtful, understanding, protective, and completely faithful.

"What?" Bella questioned, pulling another can of ginger ale out from under her bed. We had to hide all the goodies from Charlie after eight o'clock… we knew how he hated our sugar addictions whenever we were together.

"It's just… everything is going so perfectly for you… I'm just wondering…" I paused for a second to look into her face… she was staring at me with wide eyes, the way she always listens, "When is it going to be my turn? Ya know? I've gone 17 years without actually caring about a single person… I've dated… I've kissed a boy… and yet I've never actually had feelings for them. When I see you and Edward together I see pure admiration and love. When I look at my own life… I see loneliness and sorrow…"

Bella didn't reply… she simply stared at the ground and pulled at her tank top in thought.

"Lisetn to me," I said hiding my depression with a smile, "I'm killing the fun, I'm so dramatic! Let's step away from this! Tell me more about life here in Forks!"

—.o.—

"Huh…number 10 seems good… but number 3 is equally as good." I said with a full mouth, writing my favorite options on a pad of paper I keep in my purse… I'd been to so many weddings I knew exactly what I should have during these planing sessions.

Bella gaped at me in confusion. "And those numbers are…?"

"Oh… mh." I took a sip of the number 4, sparkling cider, to clear my throat "Number 10 is the shrimp cocktail and number 3 is the salmon puffs… usually you just can't go without a shrimp cocktail at a wedding… but then again if you want to go for something unique… then you should go with salmon puffs. I mean… you and Edward are an odd couple anyway, so go with the unusual! It would be a surprise and yet not for your guests! They know that you two are unusual! They should see it coming anyways."

"God… you're good." She said throwing her napkin down on the table. She took a glance at her watch. "We gotta go. Alice is expecting us… she wants to fit you for the bridesmaids dress."

I rolled my eyes. "She's not going to attack me is she?" Bella looked at me like I was insane… "No really… I've had people actually attack me." I put on my 'o my god freak out' face and did a perfect impression of a fan "O MY GOD!! It's Ariedta Swan!! AAAAAAHHHHH!! Oh my god! I love you I love you I love you!! I'm your number 1 fan!! I have every single one of your photos!! Oh my god!!" I was jumping all around in circles around Bella and making crazy faces. And then I suddenly went back to normal and continued to walk to her truck. "Do you see?" I said over my shoulder. "I really hope your friend Alice isn't like that."

"She's not, I promise." She said laughing uncontrollably.

"And I really hope that she chose a good dress, or else I'll kill myself. Seriously, at one wedding, I wore a puke green one shoulder dress… it was so ugly I almost died."

"I'm sure you pulled it off…" Bella moaned. "You are going to be the most beautiful girl at my wedding, everyone will be looking at you."

I stopped short, swung around and took Bella's face between my hands. "No, love. Your wedding will be your day. If it will make you feel better, then I will place mud all over my person to make you feel more secure about yourself!!"

"You always have been like that… I don't think that you fully appreciate your beauty… either that or you choose not to acknowledge it."

I frowned. "Both. Beauty just gets in the way of what life is really about…"

Bella rested her hand on my shoulder. "It's ok, sweety, you don't have to say anymore. It's ok."

"Yeah… I whispered… after 7 years, you'd think I would be over it by now."

"No…" Bella reassured, "I'm sure that if Edward had stayed gone, I would be in the same shape you are. Things like that… you just don't forget."

—.o.—

I glanced my figure over in the full length mirror. "Alice Cullen, you are a brilliant designer. I love this color, it goes perfectly with the whole theme of the wedding." The brilliant blue spaghetti strap dress brought out my eyes. "How did you know my size? I am, after all, abnormally shaped!"

Alice's little face lit up, "Oh… I read it in a magazine… It said that you are, literally, the most strangely shaped girl the industry has ever had. With a 32" bust, 24" waist, and 31" hips… you are like an upside pear. No offense—"

I nodded, "None taken." I knew that magazines said things like that all the time.

"— and yet you have taken the entire world with your incredible beauty. Well… I suppose it's not just your beauty, but also the way you use your expression, you really bring out the emotion of a picture." There was a short pause of awkward silence and Alice quickly added, "Really, you are amazing."

I continued to look at myself in the mirror. The blue silk fit my frame perfectly and tapered out just after my hips. "Javani?"

Alice replied with a nod, "Like you know I sent in the design… and just paid for them to make it."

The room was full of clothes, there had to be 20 different dresses on the roll out rack, and 5 or 6 full length mirrors on the wall. Bella's reflection was staring at me with worry in her eyes. She could see my jealousy… The family she was about to marry into was perfect… Alice was such a doll, and it seemed like she would have nothing to worry about once she was with the Cullens. She would be well taken care of.

I smoothed the material over my body and did a few quick poses in the mirror before before changing back into my regular clothes. "Well, love," I said to Bella, "We must run off to meet with your friends, they'll be waiting for us at The Lodge, and I still need to get myself prepared for their bombarding."

—.o.—

Bella's POV

_Of course, _Bella thought darkly, _She looks beautiful as usual._ Bella watched Ariedta as she changed into a pair of long jeans and green tank top. She knew that her cousin was trying to play it down, she was always the modest one in the family. Even with no make-up her cousin looked marvelous. Ariedta's large blue eyes always conveyed her emotions with a strength that she had never seen, not even in her own Edward. Her angled cheekbones and slanted eyebrows pronounced her eyes all the more. She had a small nose and plump, sensual lips that were perfectly pink even without a simple thing as chapstick, they weren't even cupid lips… but they were beautiful just the same.

Bella sighed, _I wonder if I will even be as beautiful as her when I am a vampire._ Immediately Bella felt guilty for saying so. She knew the pain her younger cousin had gone through. Bella understood that beauty has always been Ariedta's downfall, she just wished that she could feel the same way.

Ariedta put her hair up in a simple pony tail and looked at Bella with a smile. "I'm ready, are you?"

Bella quickly snapped out of her thoughts, "Let's get out of here!"

—.o.—

A/N: hey! Ok just a few things. I'm trying to keep Ariedta's life a mystery… I kinda let you know what her profession was, it isn't really too difficult to figure out. Oh and you pronounce "Ariedta" as "Air-ee-ed-ta" just fyi. Suggestions are totally welcome!!


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